The Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction, Tirana, completed the investigations and sent seven people to trial, citizens BB, KD, JJ, A.Ll., EA, Gj.R., and L.Sh., for the criminal offense of 'Fraud' provided for by article 143/2 of the Criminal Code.
At the conclusion of the investigations into criminal proceedings no. 8500 of 2023, initiated following information received operationally by the General Directorate of Police, on licensed and unlicensed entities in relation to the 'Forex' activity, it resulted that these citizens, in collaboration with each other, have carried out fraudulent activities on the premises of the company 'OZAR' sh.pk, through a well-organized scheme, carried out in the form of a call center. Within this activity, the defendants in question have participated in the implementation of the fraudulent scheme directed at foreign citizens, among them Italian citizens LC and SS, contributing to the normal functioning of the fraud mechanism and ensuring its continuation.
Acts have been separated from this proceeding and investigations continue in a new proceeding with number 8500/1 for the criminal offense "Fraud", with serious consequences, provided for by Article 143/3 of the Criminal Code, as well as for the criminal offense "Laundering of the proceeds of a criminal offense, provided for by Article 287 of the Criminal Code against other victims in cooperation with foreign authorities."
From the examination of the "WhatsApp" application of the seized phones, conversations were found with various persons, citizens registered with Italian names, who sent photos of their identity cards, requested by the phone user. From the conversations it turned out that these citizens were asked for different amounts of money to invest in the Forex stock exchange, with the aim of obtaining the greatest values in exchange.
Specifically, the citizen who was registered as LC communicates on the 'WhatsApp' application, telling the user that he has made a transfer of 8,700 euros. This payment turns out to have been made after he signed a contract, which provided for a value of 100,000 euros from him and for this reason on 29.11.2023, he made the bank transfer, which in the description is that it is made in the form of a loan. Following the conversations examined, it turns out that this citizen has expressed concern that all this is a big fraud. On 13.12.2023, this citizen is again asked to make a transaction in the value of 3,500 euros, with the justification that it is a penalty because the first transfer was late.
In the specific case of the fraudulent activity carried out in the call center premises, it appears that the defendants acted with direct intent and with the aim of material gain. They were fully aware of the fraudulent nature of the activity, which consisted of contacting foreign clients for false investments in Forex, and they repeatedly followed the same mechanism to obtain sums of money without any intention of return.
Citizen Gj.R employed at “Ozar” shpk has been actively involved in following up on clients and coordinating the work of operators. While citizen L.Sh, has had a high functional role in the internal structure of the activity, giving instructions, assigning duties, etc. In this scheme, citizen EA, appears as the legal administrator of the company “OZAR” sh.pk and his responsibility is related to his inaction as an administrator, to the fact that he has accepted to appear as the director of the company without taking the necessary measures to prevent the use of the company for illegal activities. Citizen A.Ll has directly participated in the fraudulent actions and in supporting the operators who carried out this activity. While citizens BB, and KD have been at “Ozar” at the time of the police intervention with full knowledge of the fraudulent nature of the activity that was taking place in these premises and JJ the main person in charge of supervising and resolving the technical problems of the operators and supervisors.
